The present invention is related generally to automatic call distributor simulators and, more particularly, to a system and method for simulating an automatic call distributor to determine hardware resources required in the automatic call distributor for a desired call volume and automatic call distributor configuration.
Telephone switching systems employing automatic call distributors (ACD) are increasingly used by businesses to automatically route incoming customer calls to available agents. ACD systems generally include a multiport switch controlled by a central processing unit to interconnect external telephonic units of an external telephonic network with internal telephonic units. An example of such an ACD system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,611 issued to Jones et al. on Aug. 18, 1992, entitled "Pulse Modulated Self-Clocking and Self-Synchronizing Data Transmission and Method for a Telephonic Communication Switching System", the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
A typical ACD contains software-based vectors, or telescripts, for processing incoming telephone calls. Vectors are scripts of commands which define the actions which take place in processing a call within an ACD. The vectors collect digits entered by the caller, collect network information such as automatic number identification (ANI) information, dialed-number identification system (DNIS) information and the trunk group over which the incoming telephone call is received. Vectors also route the incoming telephone calls to agents and voice response units, play pre-recorded announcements to the caller, queue calls, route calls to another ACD and handle situations wherein the caller has entered incorrect digits.
Frequently, call center personnel wish to create or modify vectors to perform different or additional functions. In view of this, ACD manufacturers have made it relatively easy for call center personnel to create or edit the vectors for customized call processing. However, unexpected problems may result from such modifications or additions. Vectors, while syntactically correct, may not perform as the designer intended, or may have undesirable effects on other vectors.
Computer simulation programs for simulating ACD operation have been developed to provide a relatively easy and speedy way to evaluate the effects of modifications to existing vectors or additions of new vectors. The programs are provided with the existing vectors and the vectors are modified. Simulated incoming telephone calls, based on a defined call traffic definition such as call rate, call duration, call abandon rates and the like, are next routed through the vectors to imaginary agents and reports are generated representative of the operation of the simulated ACD. From the reports, areas which may create problems can be identified and corrected without modifying the actual vectors in the ACD.
Unfortunately, current simulation programs do not provide information from which required hardware resources for the given call frequency can be determined. For example, ACDs typically include one or more digit collector cards for collecting digital digits relating to an incoming telephone calls, such as the ANI information, DNIS information and digits entered by the caller. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the number of digit collector cards required in an ACD will depend on the configuration of the ACD and the call traffic definition.
Similarly, ACDs contain announcement cards for playing announcements to callers. The number of announcement cards required in an ACD will also be dependent upon the configuration of the ACD and the defined call traffic definition.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and method for simulating operation of an automatic call distributor which generates information indicating a required hardware resources, such as digit collector cards and announcement cards, for a particular ACD configuration and a defined call traffic definition.